I'm creating a non shitty replacement for Guitar Pro from the ground up. In Java. It's going to be called DeComposed, or something along those lines. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

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25 Sep 2017, 18:34

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Learning to play an F root 4 is a fucking bitch. I'm making progress, but whomever thought of it, just go fuck yourself twice.

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04 Oct 2017, 16:26

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

I am totally shitting the bed on House of the Rising Sun. However, my guitar teacher started showing me In the Hall of the Mountain King tonight and that one is some mercifully easy progress

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05 Oct 2017, 18:04

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Might be making some progress with this whole focal dystonia thing...

If it doesn't let up though, I'm going to start playing left handed. I actually am left handed, so I should be at an advantage should I choose to actually do it.

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14 Oct 2017, 10:07

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Also I have become enamored with death metal guitar playing. So many ways you can make an electric guitar sound like a pile of rotting carcasses. It's a ton of fun, you get to explore all sorts of atonal nonsense. And nonsense techniques, at that. I do this thing where I kind of slice the pick back and forth across the string, for example. Sounds great, sounds gross, it rules.

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14 Oct 2017, 17:45

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Xerxes wrote:

Might be making some progress with this whole focal dystonia thing...

If it doesn't let up though, I'm going to start playing left handed. I actually am left handed, so I should be at an advantage should I choose to actually do it.

Great news right there, sir Keep us posted on the progress

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15 Oct 2017, 11:01

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

It's interesting. I definitely have either focal dystonia, carpal tunnel, or legitimate nerve damage in my left hand. I chalk it up to years of unmitigated Braveboard trolling and internet pornography, obviously.

But it's affecting my playing in a really cool way. It's giving me focus. I spend less time trying to prove I can play faster than Jason Becker on meth and more time crafting how chunky my downpicking is, how interesting my riffs are, how listenable my music is. In a weird sort of way, it's an improvement on the whole. I've found workarounds for flashiness, many of which I borrowed from stuff death metal guitarists do - that by itself has been a ton of fun.

Honestly, I'm weirdly happy with having a gimped up left hand?

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19 Oct 2017, 01:51

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

After totally eating shit at my lesson two weeks ago, I've been making sure that doesn't happen again. Tonight marks two weeks straight where I've gone into the lesson with really noticeable progression from the week before. Never under estimate the motivation of not wanting to fuck up twice.

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19 Oct 2017, 18:38

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Trying to wrap my mind around Ohms/Impedance/Wattage/etc in terms of gear shopping. This shit is more confusing than any playing I've attempted

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25 Oct 2017, 10:39

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Okay, so the problem with my fret hand ring finger is definitely not focal dystonia, it's a physical problem. If I warm up real, real, good I can get to the point where I can use it again, there's a constant stretching sensation, the same kind you get when you try to touch your toes - feels very much like a lactic acid burn. Also, and extremely telltale, is a bulging that happens when I move that finger certain ways. I need to have it repaired surgically.

Now, there's still plenty I can do. Tons, in fact. The possibilities are literally endless - that's the nature of creative expression. But it makes it all but impossible for me to play scales. Which is... a big deal.

Thing is though, I'm left-handed. Like many (most?) lefties, I play right-handed, but now I have an impetus to learn to play left-handed. I'll finally get to learn guitar the way right-handed people do.

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29 Oct 2017, 13:03

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Sounds like you've found a pretty handy workaround, pardon the pun

On my end of things, I tuned my Kramer down half a step this morning. It's got a Floyd Rose on it, so it took a little bit of doing but I was able to get it done pretty fast all things considered. Plus the FR is now sitting a little more evenly with the body of the guitar than it was before I tuned it down.

Also, I'm stoked that it's so easy to play Love Me Like a Reptile. Those two opening chords just sound fucking awesome when they're played loudly and with just enough reverb to make it sound 'uge.

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29 Oct 2017, 19:35

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

I've spent tonight learning to play Girl From Oklahoma by Steel Panther. It's the first song I've attempted that's played without a pick, but goddammit, the verse is starting to sound close to coming together! I love this song so I'm really really happy about every bit of progress

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04 Nov 2017, 21:51

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

I'm starting to just barely peak my head into the realms of guys like Paul Gilbert and various Shrapnel shredders a bit. I realize that's a big braggadocious claim to make, and yes, there will be proof uploaded here shortly as soon as I can write something worth showing to someone.

It's funny - when you start to become one of 'those guys', you realize how much some guys are getting away with doing stuff that's very physically easy but sounds flashy as hell. You also realize that some players are a lot more physically skilled than you presumed as a casual listener. Like, yeah, you knew they could play real fast and such, but you had no idea how much distance there was between say, Michael Romeo, and your average really fast guitar player. Regardless how I feel about his style (incredible, but I'd still appreciate a bit more variety), his capabilities are still frightening to me as an already skilled guitar player. The guy is so far beyond the average bedroom shredder, it's fucking unreal.

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05 Nov 2017, 13:40

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

I want to get an accoustic guitar, but an amp/cab upgrade has to come first. All the same, I really do need to get an accoustic sooner rather than later. Fuck... I need to start selling drugs to support my music habit.

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Blackjebus wrote:

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06 Nov 2017, 12:49

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Xerxes wrote:

I'm starting to just barely peak my head into the realms of guys like Paul Gilbert and various Shrapnel shredders a bit. I realize that's a big braggadocious claim to make, and yes, there will be proof uploaded here shortly as soon as I can write something worth showing to someone.

It's funny - when you start to become one of 'those guys', you realize how much some guys are getting away with doing stuff that's very physically easy but sounds flashy as hell. You also realize that some players are a lot more physically skilled than you presumed as a casual listener. Like, yeah, you knew they could play real fast and such, but you had no idea how much distance there was between say, Michael Romeo, and your average really fast guitar player. Regardless how I feel about his style (incredible, but I'd still appreciate a bit more variety), his capabilities are still frightening to me as an already skilled guitar player. The guy is so far beyond the average bedroom shredder, it's fucking unreal.

Funny that you should mention that. My ear is starting to get a little bit better at picking up what's going on in solos and stuff. It's not like I can listen to a solo and figure it out by ear or anything, but there are bits and pieces where I can say "yup, I know what he's doing right there" and that makes me pretty fuckin' happy. It's even made me enjoy listening to guitar solos, and I've always been a riff > solos guy.

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06 Nov 2017, 12:50

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Girl From Oklahoma is coming along swimmingly! I still fuck up a couple of chord progressions, but the verse has tightened up a hell of a lot, and the chorus is getting better, too. Time to start into the solos next

It's official. Steel Panther are the reason that I will eventually buy an acoustic guitar.

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Blackjebus wrote:

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07 Nov 2017, 10:20

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Exorcist wrote:

Girl From Oklahoma is coming along swimmingly! I still fuck up a couple of chord progressions, but the verse has tightened up a hell of a lot, and the chorus is getting better, too. Time to start into the solos next

It's official. Steel Panther are the reason that I will eventually buy an acoustic guitar.

The solo after the first chorus is learned

Just gotta learn the bridge and the main solo and it'll be in the bag

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Blackjebus wrote:

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09 Nov 2017, 10:00

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

I've been reading up on what you should be looking for in an acoustic guitar at any given price point. Pretty cool stuff!

What's not cool is that I couldn't get off of the couch all weekend and actually practice, save for a quick hour or so on Friday night

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13 Nov 2017, 13:45

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Probably going to take a swing at Twitch streaming here shortly. Figure I'll have a list of songs and a price tag on each song. Pay the price, song gets played.

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13 Nov 2017, 20:09

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

I started trying to learn the intro to Hot for Teacher last night. I accept that it will be awhile before I will be able to play it at speed but oh my god... using the pinkie to pull off from the 7th to the 3rd fret is NOT EASY! It would be one thing if I only had to tap each note individually, but the pulloff from that position is requiring finger strength that I just don't have yet. This is gonna take awhile.

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15 Nov 2017, 10:18

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

The best way to practice shit like that is to find a way to push yourself toward the right movement without introducing tension in your muscles and joints. Just repeat over and over, trying different approaches until you either come up with something that works or your muscle memory does the job for you. It will feel like clumsy fumbling and then it won't. But the instinct to tense up and really nail that pinky into fretboard is one of the many tools of the guitar devil, Bobby Boucher. With that approach you'll get it right quicker, but you'll never be able to do it up to speed because your muscles can only either work quickly or forcefully.

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21 Nov 2017, 00:18

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Xerxes wrote:

The best way to practice shit like that is to find a way to push yourself toward the right movement without introducing tension in your muscles and joints. Just repeat over and over, trying different approaches until you either come up with something that works or your muscle memory does the job for you. It will feel like clumsy fumbling and then it won't. But the instinct to tense up and really nail that pinky into fretboard is one of the many tools of the guitar devil, Bobby Boucher. With that approach you'll get it right quicker, but you'll never be able to do it up to speed because your muscles can only either work quickly or forcefully.

That sounds about right. Trying to force the pinky finger down to make that pulloff audible winds up fucking up my positioning so I'm just repeating the motion ad nauseum until it finally clicks. I have no clue when I'll actually be able to play that lick, but it'll happen whenever it happens.

Also, I fucking love that Waterboy reference.

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21 Nov 2017, 14:03

Exorcist

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

I'm getting closer to being able to buy the amp and cabinet that I want. I know exactly what it is that I'm going to buy, I just need to get a few hundred more scraped together and I'll be good to go. I could have ordered that shit this morning if I didn't have to buy a new set of snow tires at some point in the next week or so. Being patient is not remotely easy right now

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23 Nov 2017, 09:18

Xerxes

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Re: Random Musician Shtuff

Got my hands on a Peavy Vypyr modelling amp. Loads of fun. I've also got a POD pedal board (which is a the modelling part of a POD modelling amp) and I'm doing all sorts of fun but stupid shit like piping my death metal patch through the Peavey's acoustic guitar emulator. The result is this ultra right, scooped-but-not-really sound that I think is kind of special.

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01 Dec 2017, 19:08

phencyclidine

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Joined: 12 Dec 2004, 08:29Posts: 18316Location: nj

Re: Random Musician Shtuff

getting a drum set this month under the guise of getting it for my son,

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